Method of repairing a basement wall



Aug. 11, 1959 v. H. PEBLEY METHOD oF REPAIRING A BASEMENT WALL Original Filed March?. 1956 IN VEN TOR.

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2,898,759 Mnrnon or REpAmnsrG A BASEMENT WALL Verner H. Pebley, Madison Heights, Mich.

States Patent() original application March 7, 1-956, serial. No. 570,090.

Divided and this a lication Jann 14 1957 Serial No. 634,065 PP ary x 4 Claims. (Cl. 72-12,6)

This invention relates to an improved process or method of repairing a leak, crack,V or other opening ina basement wall or that portion ofthe foundation wall disposed below the ground level. l.

This application is a divisional application of which application Serial No. 570,090, tiled March 7, 1956, is the parent case.

Heretofore it has been the usual practice to repairl tion coating over the cracked portion of the wall. Such excavation and plastering with mastic was a timeconsuming and costly operation.

I have found that leaks within underground Walls may be quickly and effectively sealed without excavating ground from alongside the wall suciently to permit a workman to enter the excavation and repair the leak by plastering or coating. I have found that such leaks may be repaired by depositing suitableleak-sealingV material, which material possesses the capacity to swell and llthe leak and form a moisture-proof barrier thereover, and the process of this invention resides in carrying out such operation.

An object of this invention is the provision of a process or method whereby leaks in underground portions of foundation or basement walls or the like may be readily and easily repaired by relatively unskilled labor and in a small fraction ofthe time and at a small part of the cost heretofore required for the repairing of such leaks in the manner hereinabove described.

A meritorious feature of this improved process is that it involves the formation of a cavity within the groundv alongside the wall overlying the leak, which cavity is merely of suicient size to receive and contain a suiicient quantity of water-absorbent swellable bentonite or other similar material to form a seal over the cleaned portion l of the Wall and such bentonite picks up moisture from thev ground after it has been deposited and forms a'moistureresistant barrier which is urged by the swelling of the bentonite against the cracked part of the wall.

A further meritorious feature of this improved process is that the cavity within which the swellable bentonite is deposited is preferably formed by employing a Wedge shaped tool or the like which is inserted within the ground alongside the portion of the wall having the leak and which urges the ground away `from the wall by -`cornpacting the ground outwardly therefrom, thereby forming a cavity alongside the wall overlying the leak portion. The ground which has been compacted by being urged away from the wall to form the cavity tendsfto vclose the cavity and presses against the bentonite and augments the pressure exerted by the swelling of the bentonite landincreases the seal formed over the cracked portionxof the wall.

An `important feature of depositing vthe bentonite :fin

a cayityformed; es. described isgthntsnch method ot forining, a. cavity facilitatesAv the forming of cavities of. reletiv'ely narrow width and of merely Silleient size to receive that .arnonnt of' material necessary to. seal the lealt- Sueh method-of. forming. a compacted rather than. an excavated cavity ,is expeditious and may be employed alongside ot the foundation' wall .ot afhonse without. digstnrbing. the fonndationshrnbbery plantingy along side .the well- In addition. there'is no excavated. earth which has to be removed-1 Enrthensnen a cavity ,may .be formed and filled very quickly and at little cost.

.Other obiects,y advantages, and meritorious `features willv appear f rom'the following specification, claims, and accompanying drawing, whereinr Fig. `1 is a. perspective of ai wedge-shaped tool suitable for the formation of. the cavity in the carrying out. of.. the process; t

Fig. Z is a verticalsectional view takenjon. the linie of lg- 3;( f o Fig,` `3 is a vertical.4 sectional view taken. on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2; v

Eig. 4 is a vertical sectional.. view through the .underground p'ortionjot .a foundationwallA showing the .nist step inthe carryingv ont of the improved process;y

Fig- 517s asectional view taken on the seine line as Eig. 4'showing the second step in the carrying out ofVN thepreferred form of the improved process;

lFig: 6 is a: sectional; view taken on the seine line es Fig.- 5` showing vthe third lstep in the. preferred torni of the process;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken on the same line as Figsf4, 5, and 6i showing the iinal stepiin the cairying out ofthe process of this invention.

IThis.particular invention comprehends the repair of cracks, leaks, or the ,like in foundation or basement. wells below the level of the. ground and comprises the depositing of suitable swellable moisturefabsorbent sealing material alongside theiouter surface o f the cracked POI-@Q11 of the wall between the wall and the ground. and. in only suiieient quantity to accomplish the required sealing- The material deposited is of a character which abSQIbs moisture and swellsr and forms a gel-like'mass which seals the crack in the wall andrconstitutes an effective and permanent barrier to the passage of moisture therethrough- VBentonite, which is o form, of clay Consisting largely of montmorillonite, and is o f small-particle size, fbeing finely divided., is a preferred cornpositirm to be used in carrying out the process. Bentonite possesses the Icapacity when it absorbs water to swellv to a very substantial extent though it will not exept an undue pressure in such swelling. It forms a gel1ike mass whichV is vrelatively irnpervious to the flow of water therethrough. When deposited as set `forth hereinafter, it forms a moistureresistant barrier adjacent sto the foundation wall and rfilling in crack or opening therein. t

-In the drawing a foundation wall is indicated bythe [nur-neral 10.` Such may be a concrete well or the like.

The Vadjacent earth is indicated by the numeral 12. Such wall would normally be disposed upon a footing, In the drawing the footing is indicated as 14- I provide'a cavity alongside that portion of the wall which has the crack therein Aand which cavity is merely of sufficient size to contain the required amount of bentonite to seal the crack. A preferred method of forming cavity is by driving a Wedge-shaped tool into the ground alongside of the cracked portion of the wall, urging the earth away from the wall and exposing the cracked portion. The driving of this wedge-shaped implement'permits the formation of a cavity of limited size throughout the necessary height of the wall Within a minimum amount of time and without requiring any other excavation.

In the drawing I have showed a preferred form of tool which is a trough-shaped element generally indicated by the numeral 16. Such tool may be formed of any suitable material. Aluminum is satisfactory. This vtool is channel-shaped in cross section having a bottom portion 18 and two side wall portions 20. The side wall portions taper from the top to the bottom. At the bottom they are ilush with the bottom wall as shown in Fig. 3. This implement may be in any desired length to iit the type of wall with which it is to be used. A length of six feet or thereabouts is average and the implement may have a width of a foot or more. Theside wall portions might well taper from a flush condition at the bottom to a height of two or three inches adjacent to the top. In carrying out the preferred process of the invention, such tool is driven into the ground and to facilitate driving, the upper end of the tool may be provided with a crown assembly indicated by the numeral 22. This crown assembly comprises a channel-shaped portion 24 and a lower portion 26 which may be welded together as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. This lower portion A26 may be hollowed out as at 28 to be received over the upper end of the wedge member 16 seating thereover as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

An impact member, which may be formed of brass, aluminum, or the like, is indicated as 30. This is normally seated within the channel 24. It is held therein by bolts 32. extending therethrough and provided with nuts 34, all as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

In carrying out the process of the invention according to the preferred method, such a wedge-shaped channelshaped implement may be driven or inserted into the ground alongside of any selected portion of the foundation wall by suitable air hammer apparatus 36. Fig. 38 indicates an air line leading to the cylinder and 40 indicates the hammer part per se. The cylinder here is shown as having a forked portion 42 adapted to be received over the cap or crown assembly and hammer blows are applied to the impact member 30 to drive the tool into the ground alongside the wall. It is desired to form the cavity in such a manner that the earth will be scraped cleanly away from the outer surface of the foundation wall over the cracked portion. This may be facilitated by inserting a spacer 44 between the implement and the wall as shown in Fig. 4 so that the lead end of the implement can be held closely against the wall as shown. A chain 46 may be provided on the upper end of the implement. A hoist element indicated by the frame 54, pulley wheel 52, and cable 50 may be employed to engage the chain and lift the implement out of the ground after it has served its purpose.

The implement may be driven into the ground through the use of an air hammer as illustrated or manually with a Sledge hammer until it reaches the position as shown 1n Fig. 4. .When the implement has reached the positlon shown 1n Fig. 5, the interior of this channel wedged member may be iilled with bentonite or a bentonitic composition 56 as illustrated in Fig. 5. This is a a very nely divided powdered material relatively dry and of low moisture content. When the interior of the implement has been lled as shown in Fig. 5, the implement may be withdrawn as illustrated in Fig. 6. This leaves the powdered bentonite within the ground cavity alongside the wall overlapping the cracked portion thereof. It has been found that bentonite, being highly absorbent of moisture, will normally absorb suicient moisture from the ground to swell and form a gel-like mass.y `As Ait swells, it is urged against the foundation wall throughout the cracked area. It is so iinely divided that it normally lls such crack. It possesses the inherent capacity of forming a barrier to the ilow of watery therethrough into the crack. Should it dry out completely, it will be found that as soon as the ground becomes saturated with mois- I ture, itwill` again absorb moisture and` swell and serve its barrier purpose. The swelling is insulcient to cause any rupture or fracture of the wall but it is sutlicient to cause the bentonite to form a good seal throughout the cracked portion. Bentonite possesses the capacity of swelling to many times its original size and such causes it to completely fill the cavity and holds it against the foundation wall, forming an eifective seal thereover.

Following deposit of the bentonite the tool is withdrawn and the operation is complete. If one desires, the tool may be withdrawn from the cavity before the bentonite is placed therein and the bentonite may be placed within the cavity following withdrawal of the tool. It has been found preferable, however, to leave the tool in place until the bentonite is deposited because this assures the ow of the bentonite throughout the provided cavity. Otherwise earth might enter the cavity and prevent the bentonite from completely lling the same.

What I claim is:

1. That process of sealing a leak within an underground portion of a wall which includes the steps of applying pressure to the earth adjacent the leak in the .wall laterally outwarly away from the wall of suicient force to compact and move the earth laterally outwardly away from the wall exposing the leak and forming a cavity in the earth extending from its surface to a point below the leak, continuing said pressure sufficient to maintain the cavity and simultaneously lling the cavity with dry bentonite from a point below the leak to a point thereabove, removing the pressure and allowing the earth to urge the bentonite toward the leak in the wall, and subjecting said bentonite to moisture to form a gel and swell in the cavity against the leak sealing the same.

2. That process of sealing a leak within an underground portion of a wall which includes the steps of applying pressure to the earth adjacent the leak in the wall laterally outwardly away from the wall of sufficient force to compact and move the earth laterally outwardly away from the wall exposing the leak and forming a cavity in the earth extending from its surface to a point below thc leak, continuing said pressure sufiicient to maintain the cavity and simultaneously iilling the cavity with dry bentonite from a point below the leak to a point thereabove, removing the pressure and allowing the earth to urge the bentonite toward the leak in the wall, and allowing said bentonite to absorb moisture from the earth and form a gel and swell in the cavity against the leak sealing the same. Y

3. That process of sealing a leak within an underground portion of a wall which comprises the steps of interposing a barrier between that portion of the wall having the leak and the earth and urging the barrier laterally outwardly away from the wall against the earth compacting the earth and forming a cavity in the earth from its surface to a point below the leak and facing at one side on the leak in the wall, while holding the barrier spaced from the wall lling the cavity between the barrier and the wall with dry bentonite from a point below the leak to a point thereabove, removing the barrier from between said bentonite and the earth allowing the earth to urge the bentonite toward the leak and allowing the bentonite to absorb moisture from the earth and form a gel and swell against the leak sealing the same.

4. That process of sealing a leak within an underground portion of a wall comprising the steps of intro- -ducing the lower end of a barrier at the surface of the earth adjacent the wall and above the leak between the wall and the earth, urging the barrier downwardly over the leak in the wall and laterally outwardly away from the wall while keeping said lower end of the barrier in sliding contact with the wall to form a wedge-shaped cavity in the earth between the wall and the barrier with the upper end of the barrier at the surface of the earth being spaced laterally outwardly from the wall to form open upper end for the cavity and with said cavity 5 6 extending downwardly along the :leak in the wall, main- References Cited in the le of this patent taining said barrier in the aforesaid position and lling UNITED STATES PATENTS the cavity through the open upper end with dry bentonite,

withdrawing the bamef upward from the cavity allowing ggtlgg 'I the earth to contact the bentonite and urge it toward the 5 leak in the wall and allowing the bentonite to absorb OTHER REFERENCES moisture and form a gel and swell against the leak seal- Volclay; Data No, 231-0; Copyright 1941 by Ameri.

ing the same. can Colloid Co., Chicago, Illinois. 

